10 Sep From a small town to the big city

One of the scariest things I have ever done was move from a place where almost everyone knew who I was to a city where not one person knew my name.  I grew up in a small city with 2 high schools both only having 3oo students.  It’s one of those places that people say they want to leave, but they never do.  I never thought about moving to a big city or moving out of the province at all, but in July 2016 I made the big move from a small city in Saskatchewan of 10,000 people to the big city of Toronto.  When I moved here, I didn’t know 1 single person, I didn’t really understand the subway system, and I was very afraid to walk around by myself after 8pm.  I grew up knowing my neighbours and visiting with people at the grocery store and all of the sudden I was moved into an apartment where I don’t even know my neighbours name and nobody at the grocery store talks to anyone.  Yeah, it was a pretty big culture shock.  However, moving to Toronto was one of the best things I have done for myself.  I have really learned who I am as a person and how the smallest things don’t matter.  Back home, everyone knows everything about everyone’s life.  There is always some form of gossip going around and being twisted a million different ways.  Here, no one knows anything about me and I like that.  It’s refreshing to meet new people who don’t know anything about me or my family and I can start over.  Every time I go home it feels like nothing has changed, and for the most part I like that and I miss it,  but it also reminds me that if I stayed there I wouldn’t have grown as a person and I wouldn’t have become as independent as I am now.  It’s hard being away from my small town roots, but I like being a fake city kid for the time that I spend in Toronto and it’s nice to come back to Saskatchewan for a break from the hustle and bustle of the city.